Gunman accused of killing four people in random Florida attacks viewed porn after three of the slayings

June 11, 2018

The records documented behavioral changes, which had begun to trouble his sometime girlfriend, according to the Tampa Bay Times.
A gunman accused of killing four people in random attacks late last year viewed porn after three of the slayings, according to records.Howell Donaldson’s iPhone data showed a “significant amount of Internet activity” close to the shooting deaths, according to the Tampa Bay Times .More than 1,500 pages of investigative reports and audio recordings were released by prosecutors in response to the paper’s public records request.Prosecutors intend to seek the death penalty for the 25-year-old Donaldson, accused in the fatal shootings of four people between Oct. 9 and Nov. 14 in a Tampa neighborhood.Cops noted 269 “Internet activities” between Oct. 5 and Nov. 4. The accused killer’s lawyers had objected to publicly releasing some investigative materials, including the website name, which is redacted.“In summary, Howell Donaldson showed a pattern of visiting this adult-themed website after committing three homicides,” the warrant said, according to the Tampa Bay Times.Investigators had previously said they used Donaldson’s cellphone to establish his location at the time of the killings.The records documented behavioral changes, which had begun to trouble his sometime girlfriend, according to the Tampa Bay Times. Nicole Minnis was in a relationship with Donaldson that ended in 2013.Donaldson talked freely with detectives, the documents reveal, but he did not say much when they showed him photos of the victims.“The people I showed you,” a detective said. “Decent people. OK? That’s a 60-year-old man that was out feeding the homeless. That’s an autistic kid, okay, that missed his bus. This young woman, 30 years old, was merely walking from her aunt’s place. All right? Just down the road, in her neighborhood. And this young man right here was waiting at a bus. To go pick up his girlfriend and make sure she got home safely. Decent people. People like you.”Donaldson spent five years at St. John’s University in New York. He was a walk-on member of the basketball team during the 2011-12 season but never appeared in a game.When he was arrested, he told cops he was trying to leave town.“I’m just trying to get out of here so I can go back to school,” he said, according to the Tampa Bay Times .He suggested that he be taken to the airport.“I’m just trying to get my education and further my career,” he told cops. “I just want to do good in the world.”